At first glance, Mendelsohn might seem to be tackling a more compelling variation of the question: “How ought we to consider novels written under pseudonyms?” Unfortunately, he also seems to regard the pseudonym—at least in the case of J.K. Rowling, who used the pen name “Robert Galbr...

“The relationship between the teller and the tale is the tale in memoir,” Dani Shapiro proposes in this week’s episode of Life Stories , a podcast series where I talk to memoir writers about their lives and the art of writing memoir. The book that prompted our discussion, Still Writin...

Although Cochran and his team have the exclusive rights to sell books and other merchandise at the screenings, he is eager to work with bookstores and libraries in other ways as the tour continues over the next two years. (It’ll be in the Pacific Northwest in November, and the Southea...

“I was really tired of trying to write about myself in this way where I was creating a character, and I had to make that character funny, yet smart, yet accessible, yet a little bit crazy… suitable for editors at a big publishing house to say, ‘Oh, this is relatable! You seem so nice ...

I credit my experience as a journalist for giving me the hubris to take on something that I know little about. I’m not a translator, but I know how to conduct an interview. I ended up speaking to eight translators, who translate Japanese literature and business documents into English....

Personally, I think it’d be great if the National Book Awards were as prominently celebrated in our mainstream culture as, say, the Oscars or even the Tonys—but that would require making books more “mainstream” than they are now, which would be a pretty big project, beyond our present...

The problem I have with the movie has to do with the entire concept of child soldiers. Though it makes some gestures towards the idea that Ender is going through a psychological wringer, primarily by portraying him as a target of bullying who knows that his only way out is an even mor...

How Do We Judge Books Written Under Pseudonyms? I have a confession to make: I had the opportunity to read an advance copy of The Cuckoo’s Calling , when it was still simply a debut novel by Robert Galbraith, and I chose not to. Although I have done some writing about mysteries and th...